Time of the Blind Beast - Side Story 3

If they were soldiers of Astrie, that would at least be some relief, but if they were from Davis, it would truly be disastrous. She had heard plenty of rumors about the horrific suffering women endured when caught up in war. And Milena Girls’ School was filled only with women. If there were even a single gun, they might be able to resist somehow, but in a school full only of girls studying, there was no such thing.

“I’m scared, Unnie. I’m scared…”

A child crouched in the closet whimpered. When one child began to cry, another soon burst into tears from under the bed.

“There’s nothing to be scared of, it’s alright. Nothing will happen to us. So don’t cry, okay? You mustn’t cry now…”

They must not make a sound that could be heard outside.

Lisanne forced herself to hide her despair. Honestly, she had no idea what to do now, and she was just as frightened.

Though she soothed the children with words of reassurance, she had no certainty.

Was it really going to be alright?

Could they really escape unharmed?

She wasn’t sure.

At least the younger children could cry out their fear, but Lisanne couldn’t even do that. Children often looked to their older sisters for cues on how to react. Though Lisanne was still just a girl herself, standing at the threshold of adulthood, the younger ones regarded her as an adult.

I mustn’t show weakness in front of them.

I must be composed. I must stay calm.

She repeated it to herself again and again, barely managing to calm the children before she stood. Just then, sharp screams rang out all around at once.

The army had finally reached the school.

Her heart raced. No matter what happened, they must never let the soldiers find this room where the children were hidden. If the hiding places were discovered, even those she had just tucked away would be doomed.

“Shh.”

She gave the children one last signal, then opened the door.

But the chance to slip away had already disappeared.

“There’s a woman here too.”

The muzzle of a long rifle jabbed into Lisanne’s chest.

They were the enemy.

Her breath caught. Lisanne stumbled back as the muzzle pressed against her.

The soldier sneered grotesquely. “You’re pretty. They say Astrie women are famous for being beautiful, and it doesn’t seem to be a lie. Let’s see if the rest of you are just as pretty, shall we?”

The gun’s muzzle tapped at the buttons of her blouse. Lisanne instinctively clutched her collar. Even then, she carefully shifted her body away from the closet and the bed, knowing that if she drew the soldier’s attention that way, the children would be in danger too.

As she kept retreating, dodging his vile hand, her head banged against the window.

“Why did you stop? Go on, keep running.”

The soldier jeered, laughing.

There was nowhere left to retreat. His brutish hand reached out to seize her.

Her vision went dark in an instant. Lisanne squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the misfortune to come.

Bang!

Suddenly, a gunshot roared in her ears. Glass shattered. The spray of shards and the crash were so loud they numbed her hearing, and Lisanne thought she had been shot herself.

She staggered, touching her body in shock. Strangely, she felt no pain at all. Instead, the soldier who had been clutching at her collar stared wide-eyed, knees buckling as he collapsed.

“Unnie! Aah!”

“Ah! Mama, Mama!”

Startled by the shot, the children finally cried out.

But Lisanne, who had just witnessed a man die before her eyes, couldn’t even scream. She only stared blankly down at the fallen soldier, her mind numb, until a fist crashed through the window, smashing the lock open.

“Montcalm, Feder. We’ll enter from this side.”

A broad-shouldered man, covered in black dust, vaulted through the window with swift, practiced movements.

For a moment, Lisanne thought a massive beast had leapt into the room beside her. Startled, she swayed, but the man’s hand shot out quickly to steady her. It was a reflexive motion.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Instead of asking if she was alright, he asked if she was injured. Clearly, he already knew what had been happening in the room. It was the most efficient question.

He was the one who had sniped the enemy soldier and saved her.

Lisanne realized it at once.

“Ah, I… thanks to you…”

She was just about to thank him for saving her life. But when she lifted her gaze, his face entered her sight.

This time, her words caught in her throat.

Lisanne couldn’t continue, couldn’t even finish her thought, as she stared again at the man’s features. The deep-sea blue of his eyes under his tousled hair, the elegant lines of his face, and the atmosphere that perfectly fused the refined beauty he had inherited from his famously beautiful mother with the raw wildness of a soldier.

In every way, this man was unforgettable.

Lisanne knew this face.

Ezekiel Valdemaira. The first love she had tucked away as a faint memory.

He had already risen quickly to the rank of Major, praised everywhere as a soldier with a brilliant future. But never had she imagined they would meet like this, in a place like this.

“What is it? Is there some problem?”

Seeing Lisanne unable to tear her eyes away, he too seemed puzzled.

“No.”

There was no problem.

Instead, there was a memory.

“Major, we’ll move in!”

“There are still students in the school. Secure safety as you go.”

“Yes, sir!”

At that moment, his subordinates vaulted through the window after Ezekiel, rifles at the ready, and rushed into the dormitory hallway.

“I met you once before at the Valdemaira mansion.”

In the middle of this urgent situation, Lisanne couldn’t take up more of his time. She quickly explained in just one sentence. Then she turned back to pull the children she had hidden under the closet and bed, but she froze.

Ezekiel was still standing there, gazing silently at her.

“You’re saying we’ve met before?”

“Ah, yes… It wasn’t anything special. My parents have worked at the Valdemaira mansion for a long time. When I visited with them as a child, Lord Akenaus suspected me of wandering around suspiciously… and when I was cornered and accused, you appeared and saved me.”

As she explained, Lisanne regretted her earlier phrasing. To avoid bothering him longer, she had said it wasn’t anything special, but now that remark weighed on her. She quickly apologized.

“It may not have been much to you, Major, but for me it was unforgettable, something I’ve been grateful for ever since. That day, and today as well, you’ve helped me so greatly… I only wish someday I could repay you, if the chance ever comes.”

Since it was a memory she had kept to herself, Lisanne meant to leave it at that.

But this time, Ezekiel continued the conversation.

“Now that you say it, I vaguely remember. Your name… Lisanne, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. How could you remember?”

Ezekiel looked her over again, eyes narrowing with recognition.

How could he remember?

Because the stir she had caused became a storm in House Valdemaira. After the girl who suffered unjustly went home, Ezekiel had grown suspicious of what secret Akenaus was hiding that made him lash out at an innocent child. He ordered the butler, who always resided at the mansion, to keep a close watch on Akenaus. Soon enough, the butler discovered Akenaus’s secret affair and rushed to report it to the head of House Valdemaira, their father.

Even if they had simply fallen in love, it would have been shocking, but the woman was none other than the nanny who had raised Akenaus. In a noble house where parents did not raise their children directly, the nanny who fed and disciplined them was a mother in all but blood.

No matter how debauched a man might be, to lay hands on the woman who had raised him was unthinkable. The scandal was enormous, and with the family’s honor at stake, their father hushed it up by quietly dismissing the nanny. But Akenaus, humiliated, ground his teeth and swore vengeance every time he saw Ezekiel.

The incident had been shocking enough on its own, but since it also shifted the standing of the two brothers, Ezekiel often recalled the name of the girl who had sparked it all. Lisanne. It was not a name he could ever forget.

And now, that girl had returned, grown into a young woman.

Seeing her again, he realized she had changed so much he almost hadn’t recognized her. Ezekiel had been tall and mature-looking even in his mid-teens, but Lisanne had transformed greatly. The soft roundness of her cheeks had sharpened into a slender jawline, and her neck and limbs had stretched gracefully and long like a deer.

Even her personality had changed considerably. Though she still looked delicate and fragile, she had hidden the younger children throughout the room and stood ready to shoulder the danger alone so they wouldn’t be discovered.

That took no small courage. The timid girl who once clung to Ezekiel’s back to hide from Akenaus had grown into a capable, resolute adult who now shielded her younger siblings behind her own back.

“This time, I’ll truly never forget.”

“…Pardon?”

Lisanne tilted her head in confusion at his muttered words.